1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a method and container apparatus for the specialized packaging, shipping and storage of crawfish. This method and container is more particularly related to an improved container applicable to the soft shell crawfish industry and the fish bait industry wherein elongated open sockets hold an array of live or fresh crawfish in a vertical or diagonal position connected with a common horizontal member which maintains the separate sockets as a single unit.
2. General Background
The art of raising or storing live crustaceans separated one from another and maintained in a horizontal position is well established as the standard practice within the aquaculture industry. This is especially true with crustaceans such as shrimp, lobsters, and crawfish which have elongated body shapes. Crustaceans with elongated body shapes are easily recognized as having distinct head and tail regions. Unaided by a structural support, crawfish for example, will assume a natural posture in which their anterior and posterior ends become parallel to a horizontal plane such as a desk top, or floor. This natural horizontal posture has carried over to become the accepted optimum position within containers used to hold or house individually separated live crustaceans having elongated body shapes.
Seafood packaging employed for elongated crustaceans has developed according to three standard lines of basic use. Separate individual wrapping or packaging is one method. The basic retail or wholesale unit for singular packaging is usually relegated to species of elongated crustaceans such as lobsters which are relatively large. Larger species are those usually weighing more than two (2) ounces. Labor problems become excessive when singular packaging is used for smaller species of crustaceans such as crawfish or shrimp weighing less than two (2) ounces. These smaller species readily become too numerous for individual hand packing.
A second line of packaging is batch packaging in which a group of elongated crustaceans share a common container. Batch packaging is suited best for smaller species. Plastic bags, boxes, or trays are the basic retail or wholesale units for batch packaging.
Horizontal compartmentalized packaging is a third option, for packaging crustaceans. Although not used in the crawfish industry, such packaging has been employed for other seafood products such as clams and fish. Horizontal positioning in seafood packaging became the accepted norm for three basic reasons. The first reason horizontal positioning has become the accepted standard is visual presentation. Seafood such as shrimp and crawfish are most attractive and can be inspected most conveniently when displayed in their natural extended position. The second reason for horizontal orientation in traditional packaging is the ease of maintaining elongated crustaceans in a horizontal or flat position. Elevated off the horizontal plane, gravity tends to cause movement toward the bottom of a container. Such movement causes the tails of species similar to crawfish to fold under offering a less than optimum package presentation. A third reason that horizontal orientation in seafood packaging for elongated species is the simplicity for construction technique and associated cost for providing such a package.
Packaging which works well for other seafood products, does not meet the unique and specific needs of the complicated crawfish industry. The design and use of the present invention provides unique and specialized advantages which are, additionally, unrepresented by present methods for packaging crawfish. The present invention provides an improved packaging system for holding multiple live or fresh crawfish wherein the crawfish are oriented in a vertical or diagonal position. The angular (diagonal/vertical) presentation of crawfish in compartmentalized containers therefore becomes advantageous only for specialized reasons other than those recognized or solved by the aquaculture and seafood industries. During recent years the soft shell crawfish industry in particular and the crawfish industry in general have experienced rapid growth and a strong need for research and development. Many of the larger seafood companies have expressed concern and are reluctant to enter the soft shell crawfish industry because existing packaging methods are inconsistent and have many short comings. A search for an improved standardized packaging for soft shell crawfish has been and continues to be a significant issue for commercial seafood brokers, processors, producers and university research communities.
Three methods of packaging soft shell crawfish were used during the 1987-1988 crawfish season. The first method is individual wrapping. Soft shell crawfish packaged in this fashion were simply wrapped in a plastic film and frozen. Few people continue to use this method because of the excessive labor required for handling each crawfish in this manner. The second method consisted of a small container such as a plastic bag or a foam tray in which soft shell crawfish were collectively placed, covered or sealed and vacuumed into position, and then frozen. Vacuum packing during the 1987-1988 season was basically of an experimental nature and has yet to find its way into the market place. Vacuum packing requires expensive equipment.
The third and by far the most popular method of packaging soft shell crawfish is the zip-lock plastic bag method. During the 1987-1988 soft shell crawfish season, the zip lock bag method became the specified method which the major soft crawfish buyers directed their producers to use. Literature describing and advocating the zip-lock bag method was distributed by the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service during the 1988 Louisiana Aquaculture Conference.
A bagging method consists of simply placing a given amount of soft shell crawfish (usually 1 lb.) in a plastic bag (for example a "Zip-Lock" type bag) along with a small amount of water. Most of the water is then squeezed out as the bag is sealed. The bag is then flattened and frozen in a thin rectangular or square shape. This method is convenient for the producer and the buyer, however, crawfish frozen in a solid block are not very attractive, not easily graded to a uniform size and become susceptible to damage during handling.